Nearly two years after Aaron Carter’s death, his twin sister, Angel Carter, continues to turn her pain into purpose.
“After Aaron passed away, I said, ‘We have got to do something to continue the conversation about mental health and we’ve got to use his platform to turn it into something positive,’” Angel exclusively told Us Weekly at Cirque du Soleil’s KOOZA Los Angeles premiere on Thursday, October 24. “[Turning] Aaron’s platform into something that is positive and meaningful to society, I know Aaron better than anybody, and that is exactly what he in his right mind would have wanted to do.”
“Unfortunately, because of mental health issues and drug addiction and dysfunction within the family, he lost sight of who he was,” she continued. “I hope to be a vessel for him to continue that conversation and really turn my family’s narrative around.”
On November 5, 2022, Aaron was found dead at his California residence. He was 34. According to the coroner’s report, the “I Want Candy” singer drowned in a bathtub due to the effects of difluoroethane and alprazolam. His death was ruled an accident.
In addition to Aaron, Angel has also mourned the death of sister Leslie Carter — who died from an overdose in 2012 at age 25 — and Bobbie Jean Carter, who died of “intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine” at 41 in 2023.
When asked to share her advice on grieving, Angel — who works with the Kids Mental Health Foundation — reminded people that they are never alone.
“We are all in this together,” she told Us at the Santa Monica Pier. “Community and people and connection is what really matters at the end of the day.”
With help from her husband of 10 years Corey Conrad, Angel continues to use her voice to raise awareness about mental health. She also wants fans to remember her brother as a talented singer who was kind to everyone he met.
“Aaron was such a sweetheart deep down. He really was,” Angel told Us. “He was a good human.”
“I always say this about both of my brothers is that at the end of the day, they’re both really humble, down to earth people,” she added while referencing both Aaron and Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter. “I always joke with friends and say, ‘Nick just drives a Ford pickup truck every day when he’s not being a Backstreet Boy.’ Growing up in Florida and coming from the family that we did, at the end of the day, we’re just really down to earth people. We’re all the same.”